karlom Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I only know northern Ireland, imo Newcastle is about the same size as Londonderry.. HI Leeandalison, Thanks for that, gives me a good idea cheers Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 If any of you newie people fancy meeting up with a slightly frazzled mum of 4 for a coffee sometime drop me a pm. Just back from a mini meet with sandra and was good to have a girlie gossip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AMCD Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Hi Karlom, Sorry wasn't online for a bit and only saw message now. Newcastle is really small and that comes from a guy who lived about 30 mins from cork city! There is no real city centre as such and is more a city full of suburbs. It doesn't really have any city centre shops etc but tend to be big shopping centres in Charlestown and Kotara. Newcastle is really more a big town rather than a city with some great beaches and you are quite close to Sydney. This is my observation with 3 weeks so very early days. So far it's been quite good, finding it a little difficult to find a social circle but i'm sure that will come in time. If you have any questions that I may be able to help with just drop me a private message. A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldgit Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 All I know about Newcastle is that Kevin Keegan was their manager. he he Sorry The oldgit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KAS Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Hi,We moved here in Jan but stayed in a rented apartment until we could find somewhere to rent,the boys schools were already sorted.They love it there especially my eldest which is great because I was worried about him,as he is 10 yrs old and they have already made close friends by then,but I've been really impressed how the boys in his class and the teachers have made him feel so welcome,he's told me that he doesn't ever want to move back to the UK and if they're happy we're happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pongia Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Ive heard Islington is a bad area of Newcastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madai and Paula Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 hi we are in tamworth been here a year its not too bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alimadge Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Hi everyone, my husband has just got a job in Kurri Kurri, whats the best area to live in within a 30 min drive from Kurri Kurri, or is Kurri Kurri a nice area to live? Any advie will be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Adamstown isnt a bad little suburb. Its on the flats too which makes it appealing it was one of the areas we looked at as hubby grew up there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KALINDA Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 We had a rental there when we first arrived two years ago. Adamstown is quite central and not a bad place to be - near to Newcastle, Kotara (good shopping), Charlestown (up and coming with new mall in process of development, good transport links, 10 mins by car to beaches, parks, lake etc. A good place to start!!! Good Luck! We finally settled in Charlestown where our family are and love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Undecided! Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Just thought I'd say hello. We're a family of 5 who are also planning to move out to Newcastle later this year - we should be arriving around November time. A couple of quick questions: can anyone recommend a good short term lets place for when we first arrive? Also, can anyone recommend some good secondary schools? I've seen that Eleebana, Warner's Bay, Kotara and New Lambton have all been mentioned - what are the differences between them? Are any 'better' than others? We've got children at opposite ends of the spectrum: our oldest has dyslexia and really struggles so would benefit from a school with a good support unit; our middle child is quite academic so needs somewhere which will stretch her. (The youngest is somewhere in the middle!) It's good to know there are a few Pommies out there! Hope to meet some of you when we get there. Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandramcd Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Hi there Heidi, I can only really speak for my kids' schools which are in New Lambton and New Lambton Heights. My younger 2 go to one of only 2 Infants schools left (apparently) in NSW - New Lambton Heights Infants School - primarily because we live next door! It has children from Kinder to yr 2 ( not sure how old your kids are) and they push them hard! The catchment is near the John Hunter Hospital and not far from the Uni so there tend to be a lot of Drs and Lecturers kids. Having said that, it is just the loveliest school! There are 60 kids in 3 classes and they start every day playing cricket, running or doing exercises in their HUGE field. My 2 love it. For year 3 onwards they will go down to the Public School in New Lambton itself. They do kinder - yr 2 aswell. They are very academic and pride themselves on the fact they have the greatest % of kids who go on to the Selective Merewether High School of any Public primary in Newcastle. so if you're after rigorous academic discipline, it would do the job! My big 2 are enjoying it but one is definately struggling a bit and may well need to be kept back next year. One thing we didn't know was that everyone keeps their kids back a year so that Meg (in Kinder) is more than a year younger than some of the kids in her class, Joe is pretty much the same in yr2 and Jonathan seems to be on the cusp. I actually like the fact that the education here is more traditional - they learn xtables by rote, learn grammar early on - although I think it might also stifle those who could be more creative in their learning! We also looked at Eleebana and the school there would be similar to New Lambton. We really liked it, very welcoming and open. CJ's boys are at Kotara so she might be able to tell you about there, but I think in the end the schools are much of a muchness, they are all pretty good and it will probably depend on which suburb you like the feel of when you get here. Hope that helps...! Good luck Sandra x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 My boys are indeed at kotara south primary. They love it. It has an intervention unit and a hearing support unit. Plus onsite out of hours care. Its only a small school pupil wise but huge on grounds. My 10 year old who was registered gifted and talented in the uk is thriving there as are my two younger ones. Secondary schools if thats what your looking at all seem very good in fact the only one we have heard not so positive stories about is newcastle itself. Merewether and kotaa high have excellent reviews both results wise and from parents Hopethats of some help Cant help with short term lets as I know sod all about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Undecided! Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Thanks to you both. It's so good to hear that there are several good schools in the area and that we've got several options. I suppose we'll just have to wait until we get there now to see where we end up finding a rental. Any idea about short-term lets for when we first arrive? What did you do? I'm a bit concerned because we'll be arriving almost in time for the peak summer season so I'm thinking holiday lets may be thin on the ground.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandramcd Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 We were very lucky to be put up by the university (John's employers) in a 3-bed townhouse in Wickham, which is a 10 min walk to the Foreshore and across the bridge from Carrington Oval where the boys played football and cricket every morning. We arrived 23rd December so had most of the holidays there. You could try googling the owners Newcastle Apartments I have no idea how much they cost but they suited us fine for 6 weeks and had a cleaning lady! I wouldn't want to live in that part of Newcastle but it was a great base for exploring and lovely to be near the harbour with all the restaurants and entertainment. As CJ says the High schools all seem to have a pretty good reputation. Lambton, Kotara, and Warners Bay all seem pretty similar, then you have the selective high school and also the Hunter School for the performing Arts which seems to get some good results across the board if you have anyone more sporty or arty. I'm just delighted to have the choice! Obviously there are also the different Christian and Catholic schools and Newcastle Grammar has fantastic results if you can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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